IT distie Avnet has buddied up with software firm Novell in a distribution deal for the UK.

Financial terms of the agreement were kept secret. Avnet said it would farm out Novell’s entire portfolio of data centre, identity and security management, and end user computing solutions to its business partner network.

Middle man Avnet will have a dedicated team managing its new relationship with Novell. Its biz partners will gain access to Novell’s Linux and IT management software, including Platespin, SUSE Linux Enterprise 11 and GroupWise.

Novell’s partner and channels EMEA veep Dan Veitkus said the company had switched to Avnet to ensure “it has the right distributors in the UK”.

It reportedly ditched Computer 2000 ahead of inking a deal with Avnet. And C2000 might not be the only casualty in Novell’s channel rejig.

“Novell has committed to rationalising the number of authorised value-added distributors in the UK and Ireland to support our focus on quality over quantity,” warned Veitkus.

“By having a more focused and specialised distribution channel, Novell will be able to provide more support and resources to help distributors, partners and ultimately Novell's customers, resulting in greater business benefits to all.”

A Novell spokeswoman told The Register that, while "no specific incumbent VAD was displaced as a result of out agreement with Avnet," the company had "reduced the total number of distributors in the UK by 25 per cent since" the start of this year.

We asked C2000 to comment on this story, but at time of publication it hadn't got back to us. ®